Thank you very much for joining me.
Here is Paul MacInnes report from Philadelphia.
Here is David Hytner’s report from England v Panama.
There is plenty more football to come …
A bit of fun … Croatia’s xG was 0.42 to Ghana’s 0.74. The African’s only had one shot on target!
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Ingo emails: “Immense performance by the skipper – controlled the game, set up the winner, and had more brilliantly timed tackles in the last 10 minutes than the whole Ghanaian team. Not bad for a 40-year-old.”
This result also means Scotland are out of the World Cup.
Full time: Croatia 2-1 Ghana
A deserved win for Croatian in the end against an unambitious Ghana who rightly finish third in the group.
90+6 mins: I can’t remember watching a team with so little ambition to win a match as Ghana. The players can’t enjoy this style of football, can they?
90+4 mins: Croatia have a corner as they continue to chip away at the time. Modric very slowly walks over to take a short one. If the plan was to keep possession then that is thrown out of the window when a dreadful cross is pumped out for a goal kick.
Oppong is booked for a very cynical foul.
90+2 mins: Croatia have a free-kick out on the left, which Modric fires in low but it easily cleared.
Kári Tulinius says: “Too bad that Croatia took the lead, because a Ghana managed by Carlos Queiroz against Roberto Martinez’s Portugal seems like it would be simultaneously a dreadful spectacle and absolutely gripping, like watching a car crash happening at ten miles per hour.”
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90 mins: Seven minutes added.
88 mins: It looks like a knee issue for the City man. He’s had an impossible task under Quieroz trying to lead a forward line that refuses to attack.
Croatia send on Gvardiol and Marco Pasalic. Pongracic and Baturina off.
87 mins: Semenyo is down clutching his leg. He does not look happy and calls for treatment. He pulls his shirt of his face to hide the agony.
86 mins: Croatia are now in full running the clock down mode.
85 mins: Yirenkyi is thrown on by Quieroz, as Sibo is withdrawn.
84 mins: No VAR review on that one.
GOAL! Croatia 2-1 Ghana (Vlasic 83)
Modric whips in the corner and Vlasic heads beyond the goalkeeper.
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82 mins: Croatia have been completely blunt this half but Mario Pasalic finally offers some sharpness, thundering a shot from 18 yards, which Asare does well to spectacularly palm wide.
80 mins: Is everyone going to accept the score draw now? Croatia will not want to risk losing, that’s for sure.
Mario Pasalic is on for Kovacic.
78 mins: It took four minutes to sort that out.
Most importantly … Ghana are up to second and Croatia down to third.
GOAL! Croatia 1-1 Ghana (Luckassen, 73)
A free-kick is lifted to the back post where Brian Brobbey’s brother, Luckassen, is waiting and he jabs the ball across the goalkeeper into the corner. Ghana are ecstatic until the flag is raised. We get to enjoy a lengthy VAR review and the referee goes to the monitor to check for something or other … and awards the goal!
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76 mins: We are still reviewing …
73 mins: Luckassen has the ball in the back of the net but there is a flag up …
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72 mins: The big last push!
Thomas Asante and Nuamah on for Sulemana and Ayew.
These are potential fixtures for the teams currently getting out of this group …
England v Senegal
Croatia v Portugal
Ghana v Colombia
69 mins: Hydration break!
68 mins: Ghana are readying some changes of their own, possibly having realised that finishing third isn’t the best idea.
Perisic is booked for a robust challenge on Fatawu.
67 mins: Budimir off, Matanovic on.
Panama 0-2 England. Harry Kane.
It’s all happening.
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65 mins: Semenyo wins a corner on the left after some industrial work down the flank.
63 mins: Vlasic loses the ball on the halfway, allowing Sulemana to break but he takes a bad touch and a defender is on hand.
61 mins: Croatia enjoy their best move of the half, instigated by a stunning Modric pass but it comes to nothing.
Elsewhere … Bellingham has scored to put England top of the group.
59 mins: Pongracic tries to clear but hits Modric and the ball bounces inside the box, leading to a chase between Livakovic and Ayew, which the goalkeeper just about wins.
57 mins: Sulemana takes a beautiful touch on the left wing and then puts the ball into a dangerous are but Modric reads the danger and dives in to put it out for a corner.
55 mins: Croatia are struggling to get out of their half at the moment.
Fatawu almost has a glorious chance but has the ball nicked off his toes by a defender before he can fire goalwards.
53 mins: Ayew lumps a free-kick into the box but it is over everyone and limps out for a goal kick.
51 mins: Fatawu gets down the right to the byline and zips a cross towards Semenyo but it is an inch ahead of the Man City man and cleared at the back post.
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49 mins: Ghana have a bit more about them already, which is a relief for fans of competitive football.
47 mins: Fatawu makes an instant impact by actually trying to attack. He rushes down the right before cutting in and whipping a dipping shot just over the bar.
Second half
Here we go again!
Ghana send on Fatawu and Oppong for Adjetev and Owusu.
You can keep an eye on the England match with Scott Murray. It does not sound like a great watch …
Chris gets in touch to say: “The first action I caught when I tuned in to this one was the Ghana keeper collecting a cross with no one around and falling on the ball for 5-10 seconds, one-nil-lead-in-stoppage-time style. Problem was, it was the 8th minute. That’s typically not a good sign for the neutral.”
Sydney Kemme Nash emails: “Writing in from the stadium where I’m watching the game with my boyfriend who gave me tickets several years ago as a birthday present.
”The Ghana fans behind us spent the first quarter counting the number of passes their team had to make sure they got to 100 before half. At least the rain has stopped here!”
At least it is dry.
As things stand, Croatia are going through as group winners.
Some half-time transfer news from me …
Leeds defender Pascal Struijk is being targeted by Brighton. Talks have begun and the Belgian could be on his way to the Amex
Half time: Croatia 1-0 Ghana
Not a classic but Croatia deserve their lead, purely by being the only side trying to win the match.
45 mins: Three minutes added on.
42 mins: Ghana are still just knocking it about at the back, maybe they’ve heard England are still drawing with Panama.
40 mins: Ghana have a throw high on the left but they do not give it to Semenyo to launch, lumbering it backwards. In fairness, the ball does come back and Semenyo finally has a chance to attack the goal, driving into the box and firing just wide.
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39 mins: Croatia are not keen on giving the ball away.
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38 mins: It is still all Croatia as Ghana just sit back and allow their opponents to do what they want. It’s a fascinating gameplan.
36 mins: Semenyo must wonder if Quieroz has seen what he can do.
34 mins: Will this bring Ghana out of their well-constructed shell? Probably not.
GOAL! The ball reaches Petar Sucic around 25 yards from goal, he is allowed time to get it out of his feet and take aim, finding the bottom corner.
GOAL! Croatia 1-0 Ghana (Petar Sucic, 31)
Into the bottom corner!
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31 mins: Ghana are yet to have a shot on goal in the World Cup during the first half of matches. They haven’t even tried for one this time.
30 mins: Modric has a chance to whip in a free-kick from the left, which is flicked towards goal by Perisic but well held by the ‘keeper.
28 mins: The Macarena was played during the break, which is enough reason to restart the match.
25 mins: The tournament’s most pointless hydration break has been called. What a colossal waste of time.
24 mins: There is greater intent from Croatia here, while Ghana are happy to ensure their brick walls are intact.
Budimir goes down in the box while tussling with Luckassen. Croatia want a penalty but I would suggest they have no chance.
22 mins: Croatia have a free-kick around 35 yards or so from goal. Modric is over it and swings it into the box – after a delay for pushing and shoving – and Pongracic heads over.
20 mins: Maybe this will force Ghana to up their game, not wanting to be outshone by a pedestrian Croatia in this walking football clash.
18 mins: A SHOT! Croatia are gifted the ball in midfield, allowing Budimir to drive forward. Vlasic receives possession on the edge of the box and flashes a shot towards the bottom corner but it flicks the outside of the post and goes wide. This is what we need.
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16 mins: I would suggest this game has been poor to utterly dreadful so far. I think I could survive in midfield considering the slow pass at which it is being played.
14 mins: It is edge of the seat stuff as Croatia with a throw near the corner flag. Do not worry as within two passes it is back at the halfway line.
12 mins: No one has broken sweat yet, so there really should be no need for a hydration break on a very mild day. This is like watching a training game where the aim is to not get into the opposition box.
Luckassen plays the most optimistic pass in history and it naturally goes out for a goal-kick.
10 mins: Ayew gives away a free-kick to at least imply someone is will to show aggression.
Perisic chips a cross into the box but Asare has not trouble catching it.
8 mins: Neither side looks committed to sending men forward to attack. I suspect the centre-backs will have seven times the amount of passes than anyone else on the pitch because knocking it around at the back is the order of the day.
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6 mins: There is next to no atmosphere inside the stadium by the sounds of it.
Livakovic dallies over a backpass and subsequently kicks the ball out for a throw in panic.
4 mins: Sutalo pings a crossfield but it goes nowhere near its intended target and out for a throw. A rather boring start, if I am being honest.
2 mins: Croatia are knocking it about in extremely casual fashion. Ghana have barely had a kick. A draw would suit both teams, so maybe this will be what happens for 90 minutes.
Zach Neeley emails: “Why wait almost a whole weekend day before starting a triple header? Maybe part of it is their commitment to never starting a match at the same time two days in a row.”
It’s been a long old day, I can confirm.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are in the tunnel.
I should probably read these.
The Ghanaians know how to make an entrance.
Since Argentina in 1978, there have been two new winners, and those were France and Spain, from the heart of Uefa, their success based on maximising the advantages of being European and wealthy; no countries have been so successful at industrialising youth production, so much so that they now provide the models for every country seeking to invest in academy programmes.
It’s a touch damp.
The players have arrived!
It must be a big change going from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to Carlos Quieroz’s Ghana for Antoine Semenyo. He has not dazzled as of yet, but at least we get to see his long throw.
Starting lineups
Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Perisic, Modric, Kovacic, Vlasic, Petar Sucic, Baturina, Budimir
Subs: Pandur, Kotarski, Gvardiol, Caleta-Car, Moro, Kramaric, Mario Pasalic, Jakic, Fruk, Matanovic, Luka Sucic, Vuskovic, Marco Pasalic, Erlic, Musa.
Ghana: Asare, Senaya, Adjetey, Luckassen, Mensah, Partey, Owusu, Sibo, Sulemana, Ayew, Semenyo
Subs: Ati-Zigi, Anang, Seidu, Yirenkyi, Mumin, Fatawu, Thomas-Asante, Baah, Baba, Opoku, Williams, Boakye, Oppong, Nuamah, Adu.
Referee: Drew Fischer (Canada)
Obviously, if you’re a touch more mainstream, you can follow England v Panama with Scott Murray.
John Brewin on Football Daily duty? Yes please.
Croatia probably need a draw against Ghana to secure a spot in the last 32, but attacker Ivan Perisic is confident in his side’s record against African opposition.
The 2018 runners-up and 2022 third-place finishers have three wins and a draw against African World Cup foes since 2014, including their third-place victory over Morocco.
“That’s something that we commented on,” Perisic said. “And we played against many teams in the past 10 years, and all of the results were positive. So I believe that this is going to be the same this time as well, and that we will be playing a very good match, just like we did against the other teams.”
England and Ghana enter the final Group L matchday on four points, while Croatia have three and Panama are already eliminated. The question is whether this remains the same Croatia side of the last decade. After a 4-2 loss to England, Croatia narrowly defeated Panama 1-0 on Ante Budimir’s 54th-minute goal.
Perisic is 37 and captain Luka Modric is 40. And even manager Zlatko Dalic admits the performances have looked unfamiliar.
“We need to raise the level of our play,” he said through an interpreter. “We’re not what Croatia can be. So we haven’t shown the best we can, but tomorrow is the opportunity to do so. We never made so many mistakes in some of the passes or when we were in the possession of the ball. This is where we had the force and we were really strong, but we seem to be losing the ball easily. We need to be quicker and we need to raise the level of concentration.“
Perisic also was unsure whether Ghana’s low-block approach, a staple of several Carlos Queiroz-managed World Cup sides, would continue. “They are a very good team,” he said. “Very compact. Perhaps they played the lower block in the past two matches. Given that, maybe they might be changing for tomorrow or something, but we have to be ready for both options.
“But yes, we’re focusing on ourselves and our game and what we need to do. And we need to be a lot better than we were in the past two matches.” Reuters
Luka Modric is yet to find his groove in this tournament. Maybe he will be afforded more time and space against Ghana, if they defend as deeply as we expect.
Pre-match reading courtesy of our very own Adrian Chiles.
Wasn’t Adrian good with ITV News’ Dan Hewitt this week on the radio?
Preamble
This is the real quiz in the group. It is winner takes all for second but Ghana have a one-point advantage and a draw would be enough for them. Carlos Quieroz is the man for the job because he knows how to bore everyone to tears with defensive discipline and organisation.
Croatia, however, are a decent side when they put their minds to it. Admittedly, they have not shown much indication of it thus far, losing to England and scraping past Panama thanks to the performance of goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Luka Modric made his 200th international appearance in that match but needs more help around him because the 40-year-old cannot do it all by himself.
It should be a fascinating watch.
Kick-off: 10pm BST/5pm EDT/7am AEST
